“We spoke only about five minutes before,” said Mala Mohammed, a 24-year-old student at Bayero University Kano and a member of the Movement, led by Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, a radical Shiite cleric who has called for an Iranian-style Islamic revolution in Africa’s most populous country. “He had just said the late evening prayer and was just chatting with some people outside when gunmen shot and killed him.”

Authorities investigated the shooting. But Mohammed and others believe it was an extrajudicial killing — a security officer executing the religious leader without due process.

Analysts worry that killings such as Bukar’s in recent years could convince the Islamic Movement of Nigeria to follow in the footsteps of the Boko Haram, the militant group that has wrought havoc in Nigeria for years, killing people indiscriminately, kidnapping girls and displacing thousands.

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